The Monolith's Secret

After Mike left, Stephanie continued staring at the timer in her helmet.

She showed no impatience, but the two assault squad members beside her were growing restless, their fingers repeatedly settling on the triggers of their Chainsaw Swords and Explosive Rounds Gun pistols. Not even their helmets could conceal their aggression, and the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. instinctively gave them a wide berth. Although they had no complaints about the order to remain at the base and protect Stephanie and the Teleportation Magic array, they still longed for the honor of fighting alongside the Monarch.

From the day they had been rescued from a living hell by the angel with Iron Wings, they had constantly looked forward to making the ultimate sacrifice for the Monarch on a battlefield of fire and blood. Now that opportunity was so close, yet they had to stay behind in this place and keep company with those weak agents.

"There will be another chance," said the woman leading them. Stephanie did not have the authority to directly command the Sisterhood, so these girls did not truly obey her orders. Only Artificial Humans, creations of the Monarch, could lead them. At their leader's words, the young girls reluctantly settled down. Compared to the girls who had joined later—girls sold as goods and abused like livestock—the Artificial Humans were somewhat steadier, because they understood Salomon better.

The Sisterhood guided their hatred and fury, forging those broken girls into swords of faith. But weapons were meant to be used. After becoming official members, the girls had been impatient to take part in brutal wars rather than small jobs like cleaning up gangsters.

Stephanie noticed electrical currents beginning to flicker above the glass magic array, while the readings from the various monitoring devices started to change.

She immediately informed the